It’s high time for New York to grow its green market.
State cannabis regulators are moving to ramp up weed production — after warning that New York could face a massive shortage of marijuana in light of the booming retail cannabis market.
An analysis released Thursday by the Office of Cannabis Management claims that, without action, the shortage of flowered marijuana could reach 365,000 pounds over the next year.
Citing the gap between supply and demand, OCM Acting Executive Director John Kagia said the state could issue licenses for 100 additional pot growers this year — while allowing dozens of existing cultivators to grow more flower.
It’s a turnaround from three years ago, when New York’s weed farmers fumed over the snail’s-pace rollout of legal cannabis shops in the Empire State — complaining they sat on 300,000 pounds of spoiling marijuana crops because there weren’t places to sell it.
Following bureaucratic fumbling and legal impediments that hindered the rollout, the cannabis retail market has dramatically increased the past two years.
The new OCM analysis projected that growers will need to produce more than 1 million pounds of marijuana next year and more than 2 million pounds post-2028 to satisfy the explosive growth in demand.
The Empire State now has 600 licensed retail stores selling cannabis products.
The state Cannabis Control Board approved a resolution Thursday authorizing the OCM to allow existing cultivators to grow more flowered marijuana than currently permitted.
“The Board agrees with the assessment of the Office that a supply shortage may emerge due to insufficient cannabis production by Adult Use Cultivator licensees to meet New York State’s Adult Use market demand,” the resolution said.
“The Board directs the Office to process canopy expansion requests from Adult Use Cultivator licensees ….to address the anticipated supply gap of 356,000 pounds of cannabis product in the New York Adult Use market.”
In another milestone, licensed cannabis dispensaries are approaching $3 billion in sales since the rollout launched in December 2022.
“It’s a really exciting milestone,” Kagia said. “It’s a real reflection of the pent-up demand.”
OCM projects licensed pot merchants will generate $2.6 billion in sales by year’s end, $3.7 billion in 2027, and $4.6 billion in 2028.